


The Supernova with the Drumming Heart

by everythingremainsconnected



Series: The Supernova and her Rowdy Boys [1]
Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Rowdy POV, Season 1 Canon Compliant, getting inside the rowdy minds (a bit)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 14:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11693547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingremainsconnected/pseuds/everythingremainsconnected
Summary: Why did the Rowdy three look for Amanda, and more importantly, how did they find her?*It used to be there was one point to follow... and then there were two.





	The Supernova with the Drumming Heart

Used to be, there was one point to follow. It was bright, like a firefly, and flitted like one too. Here there and everywhere it went, no reason to it, no logic, just _move move move_. Some days it tasted like _run hide run hide not again not now_. If such panic had a taste - and it did, even from a distance - it was tinny and thin. The better taste was _NOT THEM WHY NOW_. It was a delicious constant. Like spiced meat ribs with sticky, thick sauce, but better coz it was in your _head_ and filled you up from your toes to your noggin and then some.

And then, one day, there were two.

It was enough to make Martin stop, think, backtrack. Back to that little _ding_ like a microwave timer that he’d heard in his head on the way out of that shithole apartment. That _ding_ , that tiny little bell in his head, hotwired his whole body. Made the body move backward (something the body never _ever_ wanted) and snatch the photo.

That damn _ding_ had his body sitting alone while the boys rampaged. That _ding_ had the body content to sit, to be still, to be waiting and feeling slow. Martin didn’t like slow but the body wouldn’t be moved. He sat, not quite touching the photo but unable to leave it alone. He stared, smoking, trying to remember how to _think_.

And when there were two, there was a choice.

The bright point of firefly still bounced across Martin’s senses but the new point, the _ding_ (sometimes more like a cymbal crash) was so loud he could barely concentrate on that pissy little fly. There wasn’t any urgency but the _ding_ wouldn’t quit. Waking, sleeping, _breathing_ , the bell would sound. It wasn’t long at all before each chime of the _ding_ made a flash of light appear. 

Where the firefly was light the _ding_ was a supernova. As the van drew closer the exploding sun grew brighter. They drove slowly, searching for the source. They were afraid. The supernova was a new thing and the boys had learned to fear what was new. They’d learned it at the hands of people in white coats with things that hurt and _burned_ and caged and broke. Martin had been hurt the longest but he’d been free the longest too. He tried to remember what his world had been before pain. The _ding_ kept him company as he tried his damndest to remember. 

The dial that had pointed FIREFLY for longer than it hadn’t suddenly shifted. It pointed SUPERNOVA.

*

Every _ding_ was a heartbeat.

The persistent chime - the beat - got stronger the closer they got. Turning onto another street in the endless run of gingerbread houses they found it. 

Her.

There was a girl, with an umbrella, walking. As the boys got more excited at having found her, their energy rippled outwards. She glanced at them and Martin wondered if she could feel them the way they felt her. He wondered for a moment what they might feel like to an outsider. A streetlight smashed. 

If they way she ran into her house, reeking of fear, was any indication, things weren’t off to a great start.

*

The blinds twitched and the _ding_ picked up speed. A faint hint of fear blew through the air. Martin frowned, revved the engine. He and his boys would find whatever made her so scared and - _oh_.

The girl appeared, storming outside to face them. Anger rolled off her. She was too small to be that angry. She threw a brick. Shouted at them. _Dared them._

Martin grinned.

The _ding_ turned into crashing cymbals and panicked screeching. She stared at her hands and Martin’s head filled with discordant ringing. He watched her run back inside and waited for the _ding_ \- her heartbeat - to begin to slow. He wondered what her terror tasted like, and decided he wouldn’t care. If she let them, they’d take it from her. No one deserved to live with that in their head.

The Rowdy Three knew it all too well.

Martin climbed out of the van and picked up her brick. She didn’t want to talk, well, that suited him just fine. He was good at solving puzzles. Paper, marker, elastic. A word. Which one? There was so many. Maybe start simple. _Hi_. Capitals? Yeah, don’t wanna look uneducated. Punctuation? Yeah, gotta be polite. Job done, Martin gave her brick to Cross coz he had the best arm. With a grin Cross aimed her brick straight at the window. It sailed through the air and smashed through glass.

_Ding ding ding ding di -_

Waiting wasn’t a talent the Rowdy Three had much of. She didn’t hold them in suspense for long. Something that felt warm, almost like a smile, wafted through the air toward the van. The _ding_ stayed calm, and the boys eventually fell asleep with the supernova’s beat like a lullaby in their heads.

*

She played drums. Loudly. At them. They loved it. The sound being smashed out of her drum kit beat in time with the _ding_ of her heart and they couldn’t get enough. Every song she finished made the Rowdy Three cheer and holler and shake the van. Nothing had ever sounded so damn good.

*

Martin woke to the beat of the supernova’s fear. It was muted, mingled, confused, but _there_. All the boys scrambled to look at her house right as she came outside. She looked at the van and kind of smiled. The boys were all in shock - none of them could remember the last time someone saw them and _smiled_. A hush fell over them. The only sound was the beat of the drumming supernova.

She glanced over her shoulder and started walking down the middle of the street. Slowly.

“What’s she doing?” Vogel asked. “What’s she doing?”

Martin growled, uncertain. He knew she was afraid but she kept moving anyway. Why was she doing something that made her so scared? With another growl he put the car in gear and followed her a few healthy yards behind. If something was going to get her, it would have to get through the Rowdy Three first. 

Suddenly she stopped. Turned. Stared.

Martin brought the van to an immediate halt. Waited. Revved the engine encouragingly. Waited for her to make a move. She nodded, smiled, turned back around, and kept on going. Her supernova heartbeat was calmer as they followed her.

“Where’s she going?” Cross wondered.

“Don’t matter.” Martin said eventually. “We go where she goes.”

“Road trip! Road trip!” Vogel cheered.

It turned out the road trip was only a few blocks away. Once she was on busier streets Martin pulled back. She didn’t need them just now, and the boys needed beer.

*

_Ding ding ding ding ding ding dingdingdingdingding_

Martin felt her heartbeat from blocks away smashing through his world like a sonic boom. The boys couldn’t move fast enough, still closing the van doors as Martin took off, heading right for her. It was that same raw terror as before and it got worse and worse and worse -

_**DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING** _

\- the van screeched into the parking lot and they saw her, screaming like someone being burned alive.

“No no no no no!” Cross shouted as they leapt out. Some jerks were trying to record her and Cross and Gripps went right for them, attacking the car while Vogel sent the phone flying with his Little League bat. The Rowdy Three smashed and yelled to get the strangers away from the dying supernova.

“I don’t like him!” Gripps headbutted one of them. The protective rage fuelled the Rowdy Three and spurred them on, leering and shouting, until the strangers ran away.

Martin only had eyes for the burning girl. He whistled sharply. “Boys.” Gotta get their focus back, back on the supernova. They couldn’t get her permission but they sensed the pain and heard her screams. Next time they’d ask, but right now that pain had to stop.

Gathering round, concentrating, the Rowdy Three did what they knew best. They fed.

It took so long, longer than anyone else they’d ever known, and they watched her eyes dance as they took the pain and fear away. There was so much and the _flavour_ of it - part of Martin knew it was wrong to like it when people hurt, but damn if it wasn’t delicious. They wouldn’t need to feed again for days and days.

Eventually the food was gone. The girl was unconscious and her heartbeat was right back to normal.

Martin flexed his shoulders. “Let’s get her home.”

Gripps easily lifted her up, cradling her gently. Vogel hovered. 

Cross looked to Martin. “What about her food?”

“I got it.” Martin strolled into the store. He followed the supernova’s scent toward a stunned cashier, who could only stare at him as he approached. Flashes of memory burst across his mind: a tall woman with gentle hands, arranging groceries, thanking the cashier, smiling. Martin willed himself to emulate that shred of memory, carefully packing up the groceries into a paper bag. “Thank you.” He dipped his head slightly, gathered the bag, and left. He pushed the memory away before it hurt too much.

The drive back to where she lived was mostly quiet. Martin sat behind the wheel and the boys huddled around the supernova.

“What happened to her?” Vogel asked.

“I never tasted that before.” Gripps sat back. “What is she?”

There were no answers.

Cross carried her to her garage. It was the place that smelled the most like her. Gripps pulled the door up with one hand, holding his sledgehammer in the other in case any destruction was required, and followed Cross inside. Vogel brought up the rear with the groceries proudly in his arms. With a tenderness he’d almost forgotten was possible, Cross lowered her to the ground, taking care not to bump her head. Vogel put the bag beside her and ran, having used up all his calm energy. Cross and Gripps pulled the garage door down behind them.

Martin watched on from the van. She wouldn’t need them for a while and he needed to move in order to think. Somehow she was changing things, pulling them into her orbit and not letting go. The boys piled back in the van and Martin drove away with the drumming supernova fading but never quite leaving him. 

*

She wasn’t where they’d left her. 

The _ding_ picked up speed, her drumming heart thundering through him - but then it slowed again. Frowning, paying attention, Martin snarled. The supernova was in the same place as the damn firefly. He had the _run hide run hide why is everything exploding_ flavour. 

If the firefly was exploding and the supernova was afraid - Martin drove. Fast.

They found the building, found the basement entrance, smashed right through it and found her. She was fine and with the firefly so close - it was an opportunity too good to pass up.

“Hi!” Cross shouted, barrelling past her with Martin on his heels.

The firefly wasn’t quite there. Martin followed the scent to a wall with familiar looking symbols on it. He paused. Pinning down the firefly so close to the brightest burning light he’d ever felt was harder than it should have been. Deciding that through the wall was best direction Martin whistled his boys. He turned and leaped onto a table to get a better look at the human supernova. 

The drumming of her heart was the same steady rhythm he’d gotten used to over the last few days. She stared at him, right at him, over the shoulder of the other woman. She didn’t blink, didn’t flinch. 

“Amanda, stay back.” The other woman said, glaring.

“It’s ok,” said the supernova, “I know these guys.”

Martin gave a very faint smile. _Amanda_. He stared at her and saw that the fire in her eyes matched her fiery presence inside his head. There was a moment of recognition and truth between them. Martin blinked. The world shifted again.

Gripps tore the wall down and Vogel sprayed a fire extinguisher through the hole. The boys hauled the firefly and his nothing friend out and Martin’s attention went to them. He pushed the nothing man to the ground for better access to the food, barely registered Amanda shouting. Oops, better not do that next time.

“Oh no not this again,” the firefly man sighed. His energy took on the flavour the Rowdy Three loved and they grinned.

They fed and left amid smacking lips and satisfied grumbles. She was safe now, and they were well fed, and everything felt as fine as it ever did. 

They’d see her again. _Amanda_ , the supernova with the drumming heart. She wasn’t done with them yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I wanted to explore what it might have been like for the Rowdies when they first discovered Amanda's existence. [I'm on tumblr](https://everythingremainsconnected.tumblr.com/), come say hi!


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